Since 1988, the polar bear had been living in a 5,000-square-foot enclosure — “less than .00009 percent of what his range in the Arctic would be,” according to animal expert Laurel Braitman. On top of living in such a small space, he was extremely bored. Gus was the only polar bear at the Central Park Zoo, forcing him to a life of solitary confinement. Alone in captive isolation, he was beginning to his mind, which led to his constant figure-eight pattern swimming.

In a bid to curb the neurotic behavior, the zoo hired animal trainer Tim Desmond – the same trainer who worked with the orca who played Willy in the film, “Free Willy.” Realizing that the key problem was boredom, Desmond gave him snacks that took him longer to find and eat and added lots of toys to his enclosure to provide him with mental stimulation.

In the wild, elephants will travel up to 30 miles a day. Predators like big cats and polar bears are used to hunting on a regular basis. All of these natural behaviors are robbed from them when they’re stuck behind bars in a zoo. Is it really such a mystery that they’re going insane?

In February 2014, penguins were given antidepressants at the British Scarborough Sanctuary to boost their moods after the distress of dealing with the intense winds and rain. Naturally, penguins would be able to copewith the weather because, in the wild, they huddle together, because penguins in captivity do not have typical social groups, they responded with high levels of stress and anxiety.

Without enough scientific data, we can’t say much about how antidepressants work on exotic animals. But there’s a high chance that while antidepressants might help these mentally ill animals for a brief time, it won’t sustain in the long run. What these animals need more than any dose of Prozac or valium is a better living environment, with mental and physical stimulation. Or, even better, to be retired to a sanctuary or back into the wild, if possible of course.

What You Can Do

The next time you think of taking a trip to your local zoo, think again. Life for wild animals in zoos is stressful, boring and most of all, miserable. These animals have been stolen from the wild, dumped behind bars in concrete enclosures, and left to live out the rest of their lives in a place they’ll never be able to call home. To zoos, these animals are disposable, there solely to make a profit.

Gus, the polar bear, lived and died in captivity. He was euthanized in 2013 at the age of 27. While this might be a ripe age for a polar bear in captivity, as they are said to live up to around 30 years old in the wild, those years were not happy ones.

It may not be written in big bold letters, but the truth is, many zoos are guilty of dosing their animals on antidepressants in order to convince visitors that their animals are happy and content.

The best thing you can do to help these animals in captivity is to avoid visiting the zoo. Tell your friends and family members why they should reconsider going to the zoo. And to increase your impact, share this article. Knowledge is power, remember!

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Same as the marine parks, Seaworld claims its orcas aren't drugged, but we know different. What will it take for us (humankind) to begin to respect the residents of this planet we share with such a diversity of life? It's too late for many captives to return to the wild but there should be a program to start reducing these awful places.

Animals belong in their own God given environment and not behind bars and so that someone can make $$ on them! If those "caretakers" want to care for them, do it in the wild where the animals belong! NOT IN ZOOS!